Note: Judgepedia will be read-only from 9pm CST on February 25-March 5 while Judgepedia is merged into Ballotpedia. Starting on March 5, all Judgepedia content will be contained on Ballotpedia.org. For status updates, visit lucyburns.org.

The New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. One of its former members, William Brennan, Jr, also became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court currently sits in the state capitol of Trenton, New Jersey in the Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex.

Jurisdiction

The New Jersey Supreme Court has no original jurisdiction, instead, it is an appellate court.[4] The court may hear appeals if the case involves a constitutional question, if a judge in the Appellate Division dissented, if capital punishment is used, or the court granted "certification," or if the case involves redistricting, as described below.[4]

Political jurisdiction

If the New Jersey Redistricting Commission does not agree on the manner of redistricting Congressional districts in New Hampshire, the Supreme Court finalizes the decision.[4]

Judicial selection

The Court consists of seven justices, one of which is the court's Chief Justice.[4] Justices of the New Jersey Supreme Court are nominated by the Governor; one week after the public notice issued by the Governor, the nominees must pass the "advice and consent" of the state senate. After seven years of serving, the Governor can then determine whether to tenure the justice.[4] Justices are selected to complete the partisan balance; the Governor has the opportunity to appoint justices to have a one-seat advantage, but may go no further than that.[5]

Political outlook

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan outlook of state supreme court justices in their paper, State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns. A score above 0 indicated a more conservative leaning ideology while scores below 0 were more liberal. The state Supreme Court of New Jersey was given a Campaign finance score (CFscore) which was calculated for judges in October 2012. At that time, New Jersey received a score of 0.05. Based on the justices selected, New Jersey was the 23th most conservative court. The study is based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study is not a definitive label of a justice but rather, an academic gauge of various factors.[6]

Qualifications

According to section six of the New Jersey Constitution, "The justices of the Supreme Court and the judges of the Superior Court shall each prior to his appointment have been admitted to the practice of law in this State for at least 10 years."[7]

Removal of justices

To remove a judge, the court may notify the governor of "incapacitation," which then must be determined by a three person commission; a justice may also be impeached by the General Assembly and tried by the Senate.[4]

Notable decisions

Ethics

Financial disclosure

In December 2013, the Center for Public Integrity released a study on disclosure requirements for state supreme court judges. Analysts from the Center reviewed the rules governing financial disclosure in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as personal financial disclosures for the past three years. The study found that 42 states and Washington D.C. received failing grades. New Jersey earned a grade of F in the study. No state received a grade higher than "C". Furthermore, due in part to these lax disclosure standards, the study found 35 instances of questionable gifts, investments overlapping with caseloads and similar potential ethical quandaries. The study also noted 14 cases in which justices participated although they or their spouses held stock in the company involved in the litigation.[13]

History of the court

The state created a Constitution in 1776, which included the "Court of Appeals," the then court of last resort. The Supreme Court was mentioned, however, nothing was written on it other than seven year term limits for its justices.

After complaints of the prior Constitution of 1776, in 1844, the state created a new constitution, continuing the "non-supreme Supreme Court." The New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals replaced the prior Court of Appeals.[14] The primary difference between this new court and the previous court is that judges were no longer legislators. Instead, the court became nonpartisan and did not intertwine with the other branches of government.